² Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your ^(B)love is better than wine;
³     your ^(C)anointing oils are fragrant;
your ^(D)name is oil poured out;
    therefore virgins love you.
^4 (E)Draw me after you; ^(F)let us run.
    ^(G)The king has brought me into his chambers.

We will ^(H)exult and rejoice in you;
    we will extol ^(I)your love more than wine;
    rightly do they love you.

⁵ I am very dark, but ^(J)lovely,
    O ^(K)daughters of Jerusalem,
like ^(L)the tents of ^(M)Kedar,
    like the curtains of Solomon.
⁶ Do not gaze at me because I am dark,
    because the sun has looked upon me.
My ^(N)mother's sons were angry with me;
    they made me ^(O)keeper of ^(P)the vineyards,
    but ^(Q)my own vineyard I have not kept!
⁷ Tell me, you ^(R)whom my soul loves,
    where you ^(S)pasture your flock,
    where you make it ^(T)lie down at noon;
for why should I be like one who veils herself
    beside the flocks of your ^(U)companions?

⁸ If you do not know,
    O ^(V)most beautiful among women,
follow in the tracks of the flock,
    and pasture your young goats
    beside the shepherds' tents.

¹¹ We will make for you^[b] ornaments of gold,
    studded with silver.

¹² While ^(Z)the king was on his couch,
    my ^(AA)nard gave forth its fragrance.
¹³ My beloved is to me a sachet of ^(AB)myrrh
    that lies between my breasts.
¹⁴ My beloved is to me a cluster of ^(AC)henna blossoms
    in the vineyards of ^(AD)Engedi.

^15 (AE)Behold, ^(AF)you are beautiful, ^(AG)my love;
    behold, you are beautiful;
    your ^(AH)eyes are doves.

¹⁶ Behold, you are beautiful, ^(AI)my beloved, truly ^(AJ)delightful.
Our couch is green;
¹⁷     the beams of our house are ^(AK)cedar;
    our rafters are ^(AL)pine.

² As a lily among brambles,
    so is ^(AN)my love among the young women.

³ As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
    so is my ^(AO)beloved among the young men.
With great delight I sat ^(AP)in his shadow,
    and his ^(AQ)fruit was sweet to my taste.
⁴ He ^(AR)brought me to the banqueting house,^[d]
    and his ^(AS)banner over me was love.
⁵ Sustain me with ^(AT)raisins;
    refresh me with apples,
    ^(AU)for I am sick with love.
⁶ His ^(AV)left hand is under my head,
    and his right hand ^(AW)embraces me!
⁷ I ^(AX)adjure you,^[e] O ^(AY)daughters of Jerusalem,
    by ^(AZ)the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
    until it pleases.

⁸ The voice of my beloved!
    Behold, he comes,
leaping ^(BA)over the mountains,
    bounding over the hills.
⁹ My beloved is like ^(BB)a gazelle
    or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands
    behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
    looking through the lattice.
¹⁰ My beloved speaks and says to me:
^(BC)“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
    and come away,
¹¹ for behold, the winter is past;
    ^(BD)the rain is over and gone.
^12 (BE)The flowers appear on the earth,
    the time of singing^[f] has come,
and the voice of ^(BF)the turtledove
    is heard in our land.
^13 (BG)The fig tree ripens its figs,
    and ^(BH)the vines are in blossom;
    they give forth fragrance.
^(BI)Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
    and come away.
¹⁴ O my ^(BJ)dove, in the ^(BK)clefts of the rock,
    in the crannies of the cliff,
let me see your face,
    let me ^(BL)hear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
    and your face is ^(BM)lovely.
¹⁵ Catch ^(BN)the foxes^[g] for us,
    the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards,
    ^(BO)for our vineyards are in blossom.”

3 On my bed ^(BU)by night
I sought ^(BV)him whom my soul loves;
    ^(BW)I sought him, but found him not.
² I will rise now and go about the city,
    in ^(BX)the streets and in the squares;
I will seek ^(BY)him whom my soul loves.
    I sought him, but found him not.
^3 (BZ)The watchmen found me
    as they went about in the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
⁴ Scarcely had I passed them
    when I found ^(CA)him whom my soul loves.
I ^(CB)held him, and would not let him go
    until I had ^(CC)brought him into my mother's house,
    and into the chamber of ^(CD)her who conceived me.
^5 (CE)I adjure you, ^(CF)O daughters of Jerusalem,
    ^(CG)by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
    until it pleases.

^6 (CH)What is that coming up from the wilderness
    like ^(CI)columns of smoke,
perfumed with ^(CJ)myrrh and frankincense,
    with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?
⁷ Behold, it is the litter^[j] of Solomon!
Around it are ^(CK)sixty ^(CL)mighty men,
    some of the mighty men of Israel,
⁸ all of them wearing swords
    and expert in war,
each with his ^(CM)sword at his thigh,
    against ^(CN)terror by night.
⁹ King Solomon made himself a carriage^[k]
    from the wood of Lebanon.
¹⁰ He made its posts of silver,
    its back of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior was inlaid with love
    by ^(CO)the daughters of Jerusalem.
¹¹ Go out, O ^(CP)daughters of Zion,
    and look upon King Solomon,
with the crown with which his mother crowned him
    on ^(CQ)the day of his wedding,
    on the day of the gladness of his heart.